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Athili Sathi Babu (Ravi Teja) is a smalltime thief in Hyderabad. A small girl comes to Sathi Babu claiming that he is her father. Later on it is revealed that there is a look-alike of Sathi Babu in the form of Vikram Singh Rathod who had an impeccable track record as IPS officer. His past in Chambal valley catches up with him. The rest of the story is all about how these look-alikes take care of baddies.

Artists Performance

Ravi Teja: Vikramarkudu is the best film of Ravi Teja so far in histrionics aspect. He did both characters of Athali Sathi Babu and Vikram Rathod equally well. Athili Sathi Babu entertains the masses where as Vikram Rathod aims at serious movie lovers. His comedy as Athili Sathi Babu is the highlight of the film. His mannerism of ‘jintata’ is simply superb.

Anushka: You will see the voluptuous side of Anushka in this film. She played a character with mass touch. She did really well in mass romantic scenes with Ravi Teja. Her performance in the climax episode is good. Anushka is better exploited in this film compared to her earlier films.

Others: Ajay who played relatively small roles as hero’s friend in many films is cast as main villain in this film. He comes up with a commendable performance. His makeup, costumes and a dubbed voice made him look like Goliath. The girl who played the character of daughter is fabulous. Vineeth Kumar is neat as villain. Rajiv Kanakala played his character to perfection with fine expressions and flawless dialogue delivery. Brahmanandam has pretty good share in comedy department of the film. Ruthika is adequate. Raghu Babu did the typical role of villain’s sidekick. Prakash Raj has only a couple of scenes in this film and he leaves his mark.

Technical Departments:

Story - screenplay - Direction: Story of the film has some shades of Amitab’s Don (impersonation and kid sentiment). Screenplay of the film is good, but falls into predictable format in the second half. Direction of the film is fairly decent. Among Rajamouli’s films, Vikramarkudu offers the best comedy. When we see Rajamouli’s mass films, there are certain episodes that give goose bumps (Simhadri and Chatrapati interval episodes). Those kinds of intense episodes are not prevalent in this film. The following scenes are very well conceived in the film –

1. The best scene of the film is the scene where Vikram Rathod gives the definition of ‘fear’. This is a brilliant scene.
2. The entire sentiment thread involving the girl.
3. The Jinthaka mannerism of Sathi Babu.
4. Sathi Babu’s fight with aunties (and rest of Sathi Babu comedy scenes).
5. The interval episode.
6. Death of Amit (son of villain).
7. Entrance of Athili character in villain’s house
8. Wife of Rajiv kicking villain.

The following are weak points in the film

1. Lack of relieving moments in action packed second half.
2. There is bit of vulgarity in the film.
3. Climax should have been better.
4. Too much of mass orientation by leaving the class behind.
5. The length of film is too long.

Other departments: Background music by MM Keeravani is an asset. The first song ‘College Papala’ is pretty good on screen. But we don’t see the same magic in other songs of the film. Dialogues by M Ratnam are excellent. He wrote both mass comedy (crude sometimes) and serious dialogues with equal panache. Cinematography by Sarvesh Murari is superior. Rajamouli brought fresh flavor to the film with new locations. Stunts by Ram Lakshman are adequate. Editing is fair. The production values are good.

Analysis: First half of the film is entertaining with ruthless mass comedy by Ravi Teja. Second half goes in serious mode with excessive action orientation. Rajamouli is an expert at making formula movies with right ingredients. This film too has all the masala the common man expects from any mass entertainer. The plus points of the film are comedy by Sathi Babu character, serious histrionics by Vikram Rathod character, appropriate dialogues, nice background music and Rajamouli’s execution. The negative points are too much of mass orientation, slow pace of the film, vulgarity and lack of class orientation. On a whole, Vikramarkudu is another prospective blockbuster from the stable of Rajamouli.